Oh it’s so great to be back on the blog tour train, especially when my first blog tour of the year is to celebrate a new release from this incredible writing duo, husband and wife, Carol and Bob Bridgestock. I had the absolute pleasure of meeting and chatting to them at Capital Crime last year, if you ever get the opportunity to go and watch them talk or even attend a book launch please do, they are incredible and warm people. My thanks goes to Emily for inviting me to be a part of the tour and to Dome Press for providing me with a copy of the first book of the DI Charley Mann series to review for this tour.
Payback is the first book in the new DI Charley Mann series, it was released mid – December in e-book format, you can purchase a copy here. Whereas, the paperback publication date was the 9th of January. Look how stunning that cover is! I know you can’t refuse, so you can grab a copy here!
Bob was a highly commended career detective of 30 years, retiring at the rank of Superintendent. During his last three years he took charge of 26 murders, 23 major incidents, over 50 suspicious deaths and numerous sexual assaults. He was also a trained hostage negotiator dealing with suicide interventions, kidnap, terrorism and extortion.
As a Detective Inspector he spent three years at the internationally acclaimed West Yorkshire Police Force Training School where he taught Detectives from all over the world in the whole spectrum of investigative skills and the law. On promotion to Detective Superintendent Bob was seconded to a protracted enquiry investigating alleged police corruption in another force. He worked on the Yorkshire Ripper and Sarah Harper murder, and received praise from Crown Court Judges and Chief Constables alike for outstanding work at all ranks, including winning the much coveted Dennis Hoban Trophy.
As a police civilian supervisor Carol also received a Chief Constable’s commendation for outstanding work.
The couple are the storyline consultants on BAFTA winning BBC One police drama Happy Valley and series 3 of ITV’s Scott & Bailey. Carol started and chaired the Wight Fair Writers’ Circle in 2008, along with Bob where she created an annual charitable community writing competition to inspire others of all ages.
Okay, okay, here’s the blurb!
Charley Mann left Yorkshire for the Met and a fast-track career – but now she’s back and she’s in charge and the area’s first young, female DI. Her hometown, the Yorkshire countryside, and her old friends all seem unchanged, but appearances can be deceptive. When a brutal murder is discovered, Charley is forced to question everything, and the interest of her ex – reporter Danny Ray – doesn’t make it easier.
I am a devourer of crime fiction. That bookish hunger was no different when it came to me gulping down Payback. This sparking new crime – police procedural fiction was practically inhaled and has become one of my favourite first books of a series, especially because we get to meet the most ballsy female DI I have ever had the pleasure of ‘meeting’.
Quite immediately, the reader is grabbed by the shoulders and drawn in to an uneasy murder case, one that has drawn moderate prejudices by within the police force and but has a strong minded female protagonist to reign in the male task force that she is in charge of. It’s absolutely a book that will peak your interest if you love a slosh of murder and spectacular unravelling storyline. It’s not all about the dead character’s though is it? A book is only as strong as their main character, in this case DI Charley Mann, who has returned to the Yorkshire Police department and back to a place where annoying journalist aka ex – boyfriend Danny Ray lives. As I’ve said, Charley is an independent whirlwind of a character, but RC Bridgestock has created her perfectly with level’s of fragility I for one didn’t expect. Together RC have created a believable character who you can’t help but fall in love with, you root for her as she works to give those involved in the crime justice. She is the vessel of good and I can not wait to see where the series takes her, especially in terms of personal development.
RC Bridgestock say that they write about what they know, they inject the essence of evil that Bob especially, has experienced throughout this career and wrapped a fictional world around it that is so vivid that you have to wonder what aspects are real and what one’s aren’t. I’ve said that Charley is driven by her need for justice, but I believe this is true of RC Bridgestock’s writing also. I believe they use cases they have worked to bring the wrong one’s down, whether in their minds they are fictional or not, what I do know is the passion and heart is there, entwined within their words and the unfolding of the sequence of events.
Payback is an enthralling crime fiction novel that will bury itself under your skin, one that dangles snippets of information in front of its reader’s eyes. The majority of the storyline is played out through DI Mann’s point of view, we are quite literally amongst the clogs in Charley’s head as she begins to process the case and in due course pieces together the blood drenched puzzle. A novel that is full of blood, suspense and adrenaline inducing goings on. Spectacular! You should absolutely read not only Payback but all of the DI Jack Dylan series, you can thank me later!
Could you tell that I absolutely adored this read? If you couldn’t, I did! I’m very much looking forward to the following books in the series, RC Bridgestock work so well together, I don’t think I’d have the patience to create fictional world with my other half! But if you meet them, you just know how they can! Have you already read Payback? What did you think? Make sure to check out the other posts of the blog tour using the hashtags #Payback and #DICharleyMann.
Until next time,
Happy reading!
The Reading Closet 